Little Things
by Cindy Ryan
Summary: Sheppard/Keller. Angsty fluff. John has to figure out why Jennifer's mad.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Little Things  
Author: Cindy Ryan  
Category: Angsty fluff. Is that a Category? :)  
Timeline: They're still dating.  
Summary: John has to figure out why Jennifer's mad.

"Colonel."

Uh oh.

"Jen."John called after the young blonde woman as she reached the end of the Mess line and faded into the crowd.

Crap.  
She was mad.

John scrambled to think of what he'd done recently to make Jennifer mad.

He came up empty.

Damn.

John turned to the last place he'd seen Jennifer in the crowded Mess only to find the space empty.

John rubbed a hand over his face and sighed.

When she wanted to the woman could move faster than the Flash.

John headed toward the door his brain in overdrive. He'd been on six missions in the last two weeks.  
Barely home long enough to tick her off.  
John stopped dead in the hall.  
Was that it?

Between briefing Woosley on missions, the missions themselves, eating and sleeping John had barely had any time these past weeks.  
John shook his head and started walking.  
No that couldn't be it.  
She'd been as busy as he was.  
Jen understood.

John rounded a corner and keyed his radio to a private channel.

"Sheppard to Keller."

Silence.

John sighed and tried once more. "Sheppard to Keller. I know you're mad, but you could at least tell me why."

Silence.

John flexed and unflexed his right hand in frustrations. He mentally checked the schedule of the SGA teams.

Yep, Lorne should be back from MV-243.

If anyone would know why she was mad, it'd be Evan.

* * *

Jennifer closed the door of her office and leaned back against the wall facing her desk. She felt tears starting to form and blinked them away.

Crying was silly.

Jennifer closed her eyes and rested her head against the wall.

She should've known.  
But she'd been hoping.

The tears escaped and this time Jennifer didn't fight them.

It'd been a long couple of weeks.  
She was tired.  
Too tired to argue.

Which was part of the childish reason why she hadn't answered John's radio call.

Okay, it was the full reason she hadn't answered it.

Jennifer opened her eyes and wiped away the tears.

She had every right to be mad.  
The fact that John had no idea why she was angry hurt Jennifer even more.

With a weary sigh Jennifer turned to her desk and walked around. Sitting down Jennifer picked up the stack of files and began to attack her paperwork.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Little Things  
Author: Cindy Ryan  
Category: Angsty fluff? Is that a Category?  
Timeline: They're still dating.  
Summary: John has to figure out why Jennifer's mad.

"You honestly don't know, do you?"

"No."John snapped a little more harshly than he intended as he followed Lorne through the armory. "I wouldn't be asking you if I did."

Lorne pulled them into his tiny closet of an office which was just off the armory. "Have you looked at a calendar lately?"

John shook his head. "No, I'm lucky I know what day of the week it is with how busy we've been."

Evan sighed and tossed John the small daily desk calendar he had propped by the computer.

John stared at the date and cursed.

Evan sat down behind his desk. "Look at the bright side at least you didn't forget her birthday."

John chucked the calendar back onto Lorne's desk barely resisting the urge to hit him with it.

"Not funny."Sheppard groused as he slumped down in the chair.

No wonder she wasn't speaking to him.

Forgetting an anniversary was as bad as you could get in the relationship department.  
It wasn't like he had quick access to a flower shop or jewelry store to even start to begin to make it up to her.

"I can't fix this, can I?"John asked quietly.

Evan barely suppressed a grin. "Sure you can, you'll just be in the dog house for awhile."

"I can't fix it if she's not talking to me."

"An apology goes a long way."Evan replied as he absently fingered a pen.

"I'm going to need more than that."

"Katie Brown will probably help. I think a new shipment of plants just came in from the mainland."Evan stated as he leaned forward. "There may be something that flowers."

"Flowers and doesn't eat you?"Sheppard asked with a grin. "In Pegasus?"

Lorne laughed. "I said might. She's your best shot anyway."

John stood and pushed the chair back. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it and I mean that."Lorne replied as he stood. "I don't want to be in the middle of your fights."

"Too late for that."Sheppard replied as he reached the door. "Remind me to find you a bigger office. This place would be claustrophobic to a broom."

"Do I get a window?"

"Don't push it."Sheppard replied with a smile as he left.

Lorne shook his head and stifled a yawn. Jennifer owed him big if he was going to be a relationship therapist in the little free time he had.

Evan glanced at the clock on the wall and sighed. He had time for maybe six hours sleep before the next mission briefing.  
Evan walked around the desk, shut the lights off and left.

* * *

An hour later and nearly cross-eyed Jennifer finished the most urgent of the paperwork and headed for her quarters.

She was exhausted.  
Physically and emotionally.

Even with how tired she was Jennifer nearly turned and went the opposite way when she saw John waiting by her quarters.

She did not have the energy for him right now.  
She simply didn't.

All Jennifer wanted to do was to crawl into bed and sleep for a month.

Jennifer sighed, knowing John as well as she did she knew he wouldn't leave until they settled things.  
With Pegasus being Pegasus it was probably best not to go to bed mad.

Jennifer started walking once again and John's face lit up when he saw her.

"Hi."

"Hi."Jennifer replied quietly as she waved her hand over the door control and stepped inside.

"You're talking to me, that's a start."John stated as he walked inside.

Jennifer turned to face him as the door slid shut. She did her best to ignore the beautiful lavender flowers he was holding.

"John, I'm tired….."

"I screwed up, angel."John whispered as he moved closer to her. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I forgot what today was."

Silently Jennifer took the flowers from him and moved to the bathroom. She pulled a glass vase out from the undersink cabinet and filled it with water. She placed the flowers in it and moved back into the main room. Jennifer placed them on the small table by the door.

John watched her closely. "Angel…."

Jennifer pulled off her uniform and put on her pajamas. "I accept your apology, John."

John tried not to wince at the iciness of her tone. "But you don't forgive me."

Jennifer finished and turned to face John. "You talked with Evan didn't you?"

John nodded as he crossed to her.

Jennifer shook her head sadly. She knew she was being silly.  
Men didn't remember things like anniversaries.  
It was part of life.

"Angel…."

"If it wasn't for Evan you still wouldn't know what today was, would you?"

"Technically there could be a couple different days that could be our anniversary."

"John…."

John tenderly cupped her face in his hands forcing her to look at him. "I'm sorry more than you know, angel, for causing you pain. It's the last thing I'd ever do. I'm still learning this relationship thing….I've never been good at it.

I love you…..I love what we have. I want this until our silver wedding anniversary. Can you forgive me for being an idiot?"

Jennifer gently withdrew his hands and melted against his chest.

John wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace.

"Does that mean I'm forgiven?"

Jennifer smiled into his shirt. "It's going to take more than flowers to get out of this one, flyboy."

John pulled back so he could see her face. "Whatever it takes I'll do it."

John leaned in to kiss her and was pleasantly surprised when Jennifer didn't pull away.

It was a start.  
A start to working his way out of the preverbal dog house.

"Happy anniversary, angel."John whispered huskily as they broke apart.

end


End file.
